The Scarf
by DinosaurTrainFan
Summary: It's Winter Solstice in Troodon Town, and Ned Troodon and Laura Giganotosaurus are looking forward to spending it together and with their families. A day full of fun and good cheer, with a gift for Laura that Ned hopes she will love very much.


**The Scarf-A Dinosaur Train Fanfic**

On and on Ned Troodon worked tirelessly through the day into late afternoon, possessed by a strong impulse and desire to get his task done. It was Winter Solstice Eve, the day before everyone celebrated the beginning of winter. Gifts would be exchanged, decorations would be set up all over creature's homes, and friends and family would sing songs, dance, and all have a merry time.

So why was Ned so busy? He was working on a special gift for his beloved girlfriend, Laura Giganotosaurus, who would be coming over to spend the night as well as tomorrow to celebrate the holiday with him. She would be here any minute now and Ned wanted to have his gift ready for her tomorrow. And fortunately for Ned, he was almost finished.

Suddenly a knock could be heard on the door of his log cabin. "Ned, hello Ned! It's me, are you in there?" It was Laura. Ned's heart was beating very fast. "Be out in a moment!" he called. He went a little faster while still trying to be careful, not wanting to hurt himself or ruin the gift.

"It's okay, take your time. I'm in no rush." Laura replied.

Thank goodness she's so patient, Ned thought. Just have to do this one last thing and…DONE!

Ned smiled in satisfaction. His gift for Laura was finished! He stood up, admired his handiwork, and put it away in the corner where Laura wouldn't be able to see it. He would wrap it up and put it under the tree later. He walked over to the door, opened it, and stepped outside.

"Why hello, Laura." The two lovebirds smiled and Laura bent down so that they could both hug. "Happy Winter Solstice!" Ned said as his beloved held him tightly in her arms.

"Happy Winter Solstice to you too, Ned." Laura gave Ned her usual friendly, toothy smile. "I am so happy to be spending Winter Solstice with you, your family, and my family."

It had been arranged a few weeks ago that both Ned's parents and Laura's family would be holding a big Winter Solstice celebration at Giganotosaurus Junction tomorrow. There would be lots of food (including meat), music, and fun. Both families were excited. "The feeling is mutual, Laura." Ned said before he and Laura broke away. "Come; let me show you where you'll be sleeping."

Laura was much too big for Ned's log cabin, so he made a bed for her that was similar to the Pteranodon family's nest, except a lot bigger, big enough for Laura to sleep in and have plenty of room.

"Oh Ned, it looks so lovely and comfy."

"Thanks, nothing's too good for you, Laura."

The female giganotosaurus grinned at him. "Come, we mustn't be late for dinner."

"Of course." Ned said. He climbed onto Laura and she headed off for a restaurant in Troodon Town. There the two enjoyed a delicious meal of meat, leaves, berries, nuts, and holiday cake for dessert (Laura having small samples of everything except for the meat and cake, both of which she ate a lot of). Both full, they paid for the meal and went out on a romantic walk together all over town, taking in the wonderful sights and decorations set up all over.

It was evening by the time they came back to Ned's home. Ned lighted the tree and they both sat by it, listening to music that played out of a radio in one of Ned's open windows while they sipped some hot chocolate. The night air was chilly, just chilly enough for hot chocolate. Laura looked at the tree.

"It's decorated so nicely, Ned."

"Why thank you, Laura."

Both sipped from their mugs.

"Ned," Laura said after finishing her mug and placing it down on the ground. "Would you mind looking the other way for a moment please? I have to place my gift for you under the tree."

"Oh, alright." He said standing up and turning around.

"No peeking."

He heard Laura standing up and walking away around his cabin. Apparently she must've hid it behind it while he was inside and on tiptoe, not wanting to alert Ned to her presence. Then he heard her coming back, her footsteps vibrating thorough the ground. She stopped in front of the tree, Ned was certain by this, and he could hear the sound of gifts being moved around to make room for his.

He couldn't help it. A mischievous smile crossing his face, Ned turned around and looked. Laura must have placed it down, but it seemed like she had only done so temporarily, until she had found the right spot. Ned could not see Laura's gift for him, it was lost to him among the pile of presents. Laura tapped her chin in thought, apparently trying to decide where the gift should go. Then, perhaps wanting to make sure that she wasn't being watched, Laura turned her head back and spotted Ned looking at her.

"Ned!" Laura cried out while placing her hands on her hips and pretending to frown at him while smiling.

"Sorry, kidding, kidding. I'll look away for real this time."

"You better, or no gift for you." Laura said wagging her finger at him. Ned turned and looked away while the sounds of more present moving could be heard. "Okay, Ned you can look now."

Ned turned back and walked over to Laura. She bent down and elbowed him gently in the side. "You naughty sneak."

"Ah, but you still love me right?"

"Yes, yes I do." Laura said gently nudging his side with her big head. Then she closed her eyes and yawned. "It's getting late, let's both go to bed so we'll wake up on time for Winter Solstice morning." Laura got into her bed and laid herself down on her side. Ned came over to her.

"Goodnight, Laura. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Ned. See you in the morning."

They both exchanged a goodnight kiss. Ned watched her close her eyes and knew that it wouldn't be long before she fell asleep. Smiling to himself, Ned went back inside his cabin and started making preparations to wrap up his gift for Laura. It only took him a few minutes to find the gift, place it on the table, get out the wrapping paper, and wrap it up. Finished, Ned opened the door and poked his head out. He heard snoring and saw that Laura was fast asleep in her bed, a smile on her face while her mouth inhaled and exhaled loudly. Ned smiled to himself as he crept out and closed the door silently behind him. He went to his task on tiptoe.

Laura was sleeping soundly in her bed while she was curled up. Ned's shadow could be seen creeping across her body, casted by the full night moon. His shadow stopped at her midsection and his head turned back to look at her sleeping face, to be sure that she was indeed still asleep. Then his shadow turned his head forward and continued tiptoeing, Laura's present under his arm. It was very light to carry. And it was placed under the tree and among the other presents with care. Ned sneaked back to his cabin and stood in the doorway looking at Laura.

"Goodnight my lovely Argentinian angel." Ned said softly before he blew her a kiss and closed the door behind him. He got into bed and curled up under the covers, smiling in anticipation of tomorrow.

* * *

Birds could be heard chirping outside and when Ned awoke from his slumber, he saw the sunlight shining in through the blinds on his window. A smile appearing on his face, the troodon jumped out of his bed and got himself ready. He came out carrying a cart filled with holiday food for him and Laura. And speaking of which, there she was standing outside his house, waiting for him.

"Good morning my beautiful Argentinian flower, happy Winter Solstice!" Ned greeted exuberantly.

Laura smiled down at him. "And good morning to you as well, you handsome and terrific troodon you. Happy Winter Solstice."

What a gift it was to see Laura smile, that smile could always brighten up Ned's day. "C'mon, let's sit by the tree."

And so they did and listened to the radio playing holiday music while they had breakfast. Laura wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked down at her boyfriend. "Shall we exchange gifts and open our presents?"

"Sure." Ned replied. He could hardly wait to give Laura her present. But to his surprise, Laura reached down, rummaged through the pile of gifts, and brought out a small one.

"This is for you Ned, the wonderful love of my life. Happy Winter Solstice."

"Wait, don't you want to open my gift for you first?"

"Oh, Ned. Won't you open my gift for you first, pretty please?" The giganotosaurus said while cocking her head to her right and batting her eyelashes at him. It was Laura's secret weapon against him.

Ned chuckled. "Oh, alright. I'll open the one from you first." He said taking the gift from her. He slowly tore away the wrapping paper, opened the box within, and gasped. Inside was a green tie. He looked up at Laura and smiled. "Thanks, Laura. It's very nice, I've always wanted a tie, but never found the time to get and wear one."

"Go on, try it on!" Laura said clapping the palms of her hands together like an excited little child. Ned stood up and brought out his mirror from inside, took off his green bowtie, and put on the green tie. He looked at himself in the mirror, the backs of his hands against his hips, and smiled a big smile.

Laura clasped her hands together under her chin, admiring the troodon in his new clothes. "Oh Ned, you look so handsome in that tie! Then again, you always look very handsome; you don't need an article of clothing to help you with that."

Ned looked up at her happily. "Thanks, Laura. Now I have a gift I'm dying to give you." He walked over to the tree and bent down. He brought out a medium sized package and held it up to Laura. "This is for you, happy Winter Solstice, Laura. Open it up, please." He smiled cutely up at her, his own secret weapon for Laura.

She chuckled. Of course she would open it; she would even have done so without Ned using his secret weapon on her. She took the gift from him and removed the wrapping paper. Then she opened the cardboard box and let out a gasp. "Oh my goodness, Ned!"

It was a scarf, a red scarf that Ned had made for her. Laura could tell that it was handmade thanks to her keen eyesight. She removed the scarf from its box and set the box down. She held it in her hands and felt the material. There were pictures sewed in. One a knitted picture of when the two first met, another of them on their first date. The pictures were of past events that they had shared together. Except for the last one, where Laura was shown the very scarf she now had in her hands while Ned was smiling up at her in it, just like he was right now.

"I spent weeks learning how to make it and weeks after that making it for you. I had just finished it when you arrived, and wrapped and put it under the tree while you were asleep. So what do you think, Laura?"

"Oh, Ned." Laura looked like she was on the verge of tears. Her eyes looked glossy and there was a big smile on her face as she looked down at him. "Thank you, thank you so much for it. What have I done to deserve such a wonderful gift from such a wonderful creature?"

Ned blushed and rubbed the back of his neck while he smiled shyly. "Oh, come on. You do such nice things all the time; you deserve to be given some kindness from others too."

"I greatly appreciate this kindness, thank you Ned." She said before wrapping the scarf around her neck. It fit her just right.

Ned and Laura both shared a sweet and tender kiss.

They then started tearing into their other presents. There were presents from their families, presents from their close friends the Pteranodon family, and presents from their fellow Dinosaur Train co-workers and Dinosaur Train Industries. Among them Ned got a telescope, a box filled with extra green bowties, a periscope, some chocolates, and a winter hat with ear flaps to wear in the snow. Laura mostly got art supplies: a few sketch books, some pencils, pencil sharpener, paint, paintbrushes, canvasses to paint on, and some clay.

"Oh my, such wonderful gifts on such a wonderful day!" Laura commented as she tried out one of her pencils on one of her new sketch books. Ned had just finished throwing the wrapping paper away into the trash.

"I know." He checked his watch. "We have about several hours before we have to head to your parents for the party, what should we do until then?"

"I don't know." Laura said, feeling a little hot around the neck. She took off the scarf and looked at it before sighing, "I wish it wasn't so warm out today. I would love to wear this scarf for a bit longer."

Ned nodded at her and looked at his winter hat with the earflaps. Then it struck him out of nowhere, a really great idea. Ned jumped up to his feet and grinned widely at Laura. "Say, how about we go to the North Pole?!"

"Excuse me?" Laura asked.

"We could take the Dinosaur Train to the North Pole for some wonderful winter fun! I can wear my winter hat and you can wear the scarf I made for you! We could build snow dinos, go sledding, and skate across the frozen ponds! What do you say?"

Laura smiled at him. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Ned!"

"There's a train that leaves in the next ten minutes, and it heads straight for the North Pole after several stops. We better catch it if we want to have plenty of time to have plenty of fun."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Laura cried out with excitement. Ned took his winter hat and Laura took her scarf. He got onto her back and Laura stood up straight before heading off for the train station.

* * *

"Why hello, Ned and Laura. Happy Winter Solstice!" Mr. Conductor greeted them while holding his arms out at his sides.

"Hello, Mr. Conductor! Happy Winter Solstice to you too!" They both said in unison.

"Say, don't you two have the day off?"

"Yes, but we're taking the Dinosaur Train to the North Pole for some wonderful winter fun." Laura explained.

"Why that sounds great, and you've arrived just in time because it's time for…all aboard!" The conductor cried.

Ned and Laura boarded the train via the observation car and the train headed off.

The train arrived at the North Pole in no time and a wonderful winter scene greeted the troodon and giganotosaurus couple. The sky was calm and the color of gray, with snow falling down. Feeling excited about spending the day here, Ned and Laura ran out of the observation car and onto the snow, feeling the cold beneath their feet.

"Bye Ned, bye Laura. Have fun and I'll see you guys later. Remember, the train service ends early today so be back before the last run here, okay?"

"We will." Ned and Laura said waving good-bye.

"All aboard!" Mr. Conductor cried before the train headed off.

"So, what should we do first?" Laura asked while wrapping her scarf around her neck. Ned had just put on his winter hat. He looked up at a tall hill of snow up ahead. "We could go sledding down the hill, but we'd need something for a sled."

"How about I be the sled? You could climb onto me and we could slide down. It'd be fun." Laura suggested.

"You sure you want to?"

Laura placed one hand on her chest and bowed humbly before Ned. "It is my duty and pleasure to serve, Ned my dear."

This brought out a chuckle from the troodon. "Alright, let's go sledding, my dear."

The two headed off and up to the top of the hill. When they got there Laura got down onto her back and Ned climbed onto her. She wrapped her arms around him and down they slid, the scenery around them going by in a blur. In seconds they were at the bottom with a mound of snow under them, laughing.

"Let us do that again." Laura said

They went up to the top of the hill again, this time with Laura getting and sliding down on her belly with Ned riding atop her spiked back. They went sledding a few more times before deciding to do something else. They build snow balls to throw at each other, snow forts to hide behind, and even sculptures of snow dinos.

They were so absorbed in their merry winter fun that they didn't notice it at first. But then they heard it again and it was unmistakable. The train whistle.

"Oh no, Laura. We got to go!" Ned said, remembering Mr. Conductor's warning.

"Hop on!" Laura bent down so Ned could get on her back before running off. The sound of her footsteps thundered over the ground and through the air. She ran up a tall hill and both she and Ned could see the train and the station at the bottom. Laura wasted no time running down at top speed. They got closer and closer to the bottom. Just like it seemed they were going to make it, the two watched in despair as the train quickly pulled out of the station and away from the North Pole.

"No! Come back, oh please come back!" Ned cried.

Laura let off a loud roar, but unfortunately the train was too far away to hear it. They saw it disappear into the horizon. "Oh, how stupid I am!" Laura said. "I should've roared when the train was still at the station, then I would've been heard."

Ned closed his eyes and sighed sadly. "No, Laura. This is all my fault. I never should've suggested going here in the first place. Not only are we stuck here until tomorrow, but we're going to miss the big celebration with our families." Ned felt Laura's hands on his shoulders and he looked up at her. "It's not your fault and I don't want to hear another word about it. Let's just…sit here and wait. Maybe the conductor will have the train come back one last time?" Ned sighed, not really having a lot of hope for that at the moment, yet still having a tiny bit. "Alright."

So the two sat on the station's platform, Laura squatting and Ned sitting on a green wooden bench next to her, waiting for the train to hopefully come back. Hours passed and still no train. Snowflakes started to fall down from the sky, landing on the two and all around them. Ned looked up at Laura. "How you feeling, Laura?"

She looked down at him. "A little cold, but this scarf helps keeping me warm. Again, thank you Ned."

Ned felt himself perking up when he saw her smile. It made him feel a little warm too. "You're very welcome. Glad you like it." He stood up on top of the bench and pressed himself against Laura's left leg and lower left side of her body. He wrapped his arms around as much of her that he could reach. "Does this help with making you feel warmer?"

"It does, more than you know." Laura said warmly.

Ned was silent for a few minutes, looking out at the snowy landscape before him. "You know, Laura. Out of all the creatures in the Mesozoic to be stuck with here on Winter Solstice, I'm very glad to be stuck here with you."

"The feeling is mutual, my dear Ned." The two smiled as they briefly separated, kissed, and Ned hugged her side again. They were both now feeling very warm together and prepared to stay out here a little while longer until…

WOO-WOO!

Ned and Laura looked down the track and smiled big smiles. It was the Dinosaur train, coming down the tracks toward them. It was a Winter Solstice miracle!

The train stopped at the station and Mr. Conductor stepped out. "Ned! Laura! Good to see you two!"

"It's great to see you too, Mr. Conductor." Laura said after her and Ned both stood up.

"We're sorry for missing he train." Ned said.

"Oh, don't worry about that. When I didn't see you here for the last run, I thought about having the train come back and hopefully get you. Sorry for the long wait, other stops had to be made.

But Ned and Laura nodded, saying that they understood and were just glad that the train was back. Mr. Conductor looked at his watch, "Say, if we hurry on, you'll both make it in time for the Winter Solstice party your families are having, the one you two told me about on the way here."

"Yes, let's go!" Ned and Laura both cried happily. They boarded the train and with Mr. Conductor and they were off, speeding towards Giganotosaurus Junction.

* * *

They arrived just in time for the party. Ned and Laura quickly got off of the train, thanking Mr. Conductor for everything and wishing him a happy Winter Solstice, with him saying the same thing to them. They arrived at Laura's home and saw their families all around a long wooden table covered with plates of food, mostly meat. There were Laura's parents and siblings, uncle, aunts, and cousins. Ned could also see his parent, uncles, aunts, and cousins gathered around the tree, making some finishing touches to it.

Ned and Laura ran over to their families and were greeted very warmly. There were hugs and kisses exchanged right before the festivities began. In addition to there being great food there was also games, dances performed by the young children of both families, and singing of wonderful holiday songs like the Winter Solstice song. Everyone danced while gathered in a massive group around the beautifully decorated tree, with Ned and Laura in the center of it all, having a great and fun time.

Later as the party was beginning to end, Mr. Conductor stopped by, telling Ned and Laura that the train was waiting at the station to take them both home, along with Ned's whole family. That had all been set up in advance before the party. "Don't worry; it'd be no problem to take you all home, no problem at all." Mr. Conductor had said weeks ago. Ned and Laura both nodded and said good-bye to Laura's family, wishing them all a happy Winter Solstice, with Laura's family doing the same for them. The train left Giganotosaurus Junction and was back in Troodon Town within a couple hours. It was dark and the street lights were on as Ned and Laura said good-bye to Ned's family.

Ned and Laura walked back to Ned's log cabin, feeling very tired but also happy. "You know, this day didn't go exactly as planned, but I sure had a lot of fun, especially with you, Laura."

"I feel the same way too, Ned." Laura yawned.

They arrived at Ned's house with the tree lights automatically coming on and illuminating the place. Laura got down on her side in the nest Ned had made for her, getting ready to fall asleep. "Say, Laura?"

"Yes, Ned?" She asked.

Ned looked at her. "Mind if I sleep by you and your nest tonight?"

Laura just gave him her characteristic smiled and gestured with her hand for to Ned to do so. He smiled as he got out his pillow and blanket and set them down by the nest. He got himself comfortable as he laid himself down.

"Goodnight, Laura. Happy Winter Solstice."

"Goodnight, Ned. Happy Winter Solstice to you as well."

They both exchanged a loving kiss right before setting their heads down, closing their eyes, and falling fast asleep under the stars.

* * *

 **Originally I came up with the idea for this story and tried to get it out in time for Christmas two years ago, but I ended up being busy with other things. Tried again for Christmas 2017, same thing. But I'm glad that I finally finished it for Christmas this year.**

 **Merry Christmas, everyone! And a Happy New Year as well!**

 **~DinosaurTrainFan**


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